Hi, new member from New Zealand with two lovely fancy rats - Bourbon (champagne hooded albino girl) and Cola (boy, all brown but definitely fancy, recently neutered and gaining weight so fast I've had to cut his avocado and ornelle's double cream brie rations).

I joined to share this cos it freaked me out a little... that won't come across in the way this is written cos I blogged the events of last night on the bus this morning and it reads like entertainment, but I AM quite confused by all of it... my lil gal never once bit or scratched me despite shrieking like a banshee and was fine this morning and I don't understand that - a human would probably shoot me and other rats would have shredded me. She's 6mths old, so basically mature.

Cola is one big arse rat. He spends most of his days on top of the cage eating whatever flies past and making excuses for not joining a gym. And now I knew how to make him exercise.

At the time the plan seemed flawless. Liberally coat Bourbon with dip, watch Cola chase her around the lounge.

Huge mistake.

There was clearly nothing wrong with the bait - Cola was delighted with his furry feast. Unfortunately the plate didn't share his enthusiasm. Bourbon was mortified, letting out a few choice squeaks before vanishing, leaving only a faint aroma of onion. Cola went back to bed.

Now I had a confused, distressed and extremely delicious rat running around smearing dip everywhere and doing everything possible to avoid being fed to “Jabba the Rat”.

In hindsight the decision to turn her into the rabbit at a greyhound race wasn't the worst decision of the night. That honour goes to the decision to catch and wash her.Rats are fast. Rats fit under couches. Neither of those applies to me - I'm Eric Cartman to Cola's James Cordon.

I'd been down this road before with Sterling Mousie Archer, and the catching part ended the same way. Couches flipped over, coffee table missing, every potential hiding place neutralised.

I knew I'd win, it was only the cost I was unsure of.

Rat finally in hand and deceptively calm, I crawled out of the rubble and ran a bath/sink.

Apparently rats love water but they take a while to trust it. I've done a lot of research on this and have been planning to install a pool, by which I mean buy a paint roller tray.

My "John The Baptist" style did not suit Bourbon. One inch of water. Rat in hand. Gentle waves of soothing warmth washing over furred flanks. I would have swapped places in a heartbeat. Bourbon turned full bat-(REALLY? removed IS OFFENSIVE HERE? ALL YOUR MEMBERS HAVE TO PICK UP RAT poo BUT WE CAN'T TYPE IT!??! I AM SO OUT OF HERE, removed) Tasmanian devil.

The shrieking was incredible. With the smell of steak still floating on the air and the taste lingering on his lips, Cola probably thought I was cooking her alive, to medium rare perfection. The fat ... SERIOUSLY FANCYRATFORUMS? You censored THAT? You do understand how evolution works right? Eventually only people how who think removed is offensive will be left and that's NO use to everyday fancy rat parents because people who are easily offended are the WORST people to cohabit with fur babies.

Fine. Let's just say... chap. The fat CHAP was probably excited.

Enough. Wrap shiny rat in towel. Massage. Soothe. Flip couch upright. Carefully blow dry rat in front of a low fan heater... from where I was sitting the entire evening was nothing short of a high end spa treatment. To her it was Guantonamo Bay.

The noise was so horrific I eventually gave up, pulled everything out of the cage and tossed devil-rat in to dry in the bedding, covering the cage for warmth and so I didn't have to see her sad eyes and cute paws gripping the bars like a death row inmate.

You know you're in trouble when the cage door closes behind you. These guys are free range. This morning she cheerfully nipped out and ran up her torturer's arm like nothing happened, but the memory of last night will live with me forever.

As for Cola, he was so scared of me after listening to Bourbon shrieking for 20 minutes straight he climbed down the cage and sprinted off at full waddle, only returning for a scrambled egg breakfast. Rats respond to food like I respond to alcohol.

So technically, I won. Some might say the plan was unnecessarily elaborate, but I actually achieved my objective. Mr Creosote got some exercise.

If anyone wants to coat me in onion dip then bathe and blow dry me, I would probably be open to that.

Talk about ungrateful.

Anyway, based on the censorship rules I doubt you have any members so I feel foolish saying goodbye, especially in my first post, but GOODBYE!!!

Seriously if there's anyone left you need to stage a mutiny to bring this forum into the 20th century. Yes, I know it's the 21st century but Rome wasn't built in a day.

Baby steps.

For the record, the word I used that was censored was in the Oxford English Dictionary and anyone who refuses to allow has serious emotional issues. Shame on you.

It's not like I said removed

Note: widely accepted as offensive and potentially offensive words removed. Replacing letters with other characters does not make the words any more acceptable.

Firstly, you appear to have come here for answers, I think to the question of why Bourbon didn't like Cola trying to eat the dip off her rump... and the reason is that unless a rat in her position is a doe in season, then having another rat effectively mount her (any sustained contact on the rump will feel like that), means that they are trying to dominate. Rats don't always accept another rat using such dominance behaviour on them, and that is probably why she freaked out.

Water is also something which most rats don't like, and most that do would need to be introduced to it in a more gentle way - your paint roller tray is a great idea, and may still work if Bourbon can investigate it at her own pace. Some, however, will possibly never take to water.

Secondly, the matter of our swear filter... we have had a number of discussions about what should be included in it, and what shouldn't. I don't find those two particular words offensive personally, but since this forum is declared to be family friendly, we don't want to alienate anyone who may consider them unsuitable for their child to read. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to express ourselves in alternate ways which avoid using those actual words, and therefore they have remained in the swear filter, along with a good number which are significantly worse. The Oxford English Dictionary includes all words regardless of whether they might be considered offensive.

It is true that this is a quiet forum, but it's not due to our rules, it's partly due to the fact that our software isn't yet mobile friendly, but mostly due to the fact that Facebook has sucked so many people into its clutches, and the questions previously raised and answered on here are now raised and answered on facebook groups, generally several times a day every day because of the lack of structure.

Finally, another one of our rules which you no doubt will also object to, is that accounts are not deleted. This is to prevent confusion caused by disappearing threads and posts. There is no obligation to return, but people often have done once they've realised this was actually the best place to find good quality advice, and that our rules are not there to be unreasonable, they enable us to achieve our one overriding objective: to help as many rats as possible.

Secondly, the matter of our swear filter... we have had a number of discussions about what should be included in it, and what shouldn't. I don't find those two particular words offensive personally, but since this forum is declared to be family friendly, we don't want to alienate anyone who may consider them unsuitable for their child to read. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to express ourselves in alternate ways which avoid using those actual words, and therefore they have remained in the swear filter, along with a good number which are significantly worse. The Oxford English Dictionary includes all words regardless of whether they might be considered offensive.

It is true that this is a quiet forum, but it's not due to our rules, it's partly due to the fact that our software isn't yet mobile friendly, but mostly due to the fact that Facebook has sucked so many people into its clutches, and the questions previously raised and answered on here are now raised and answered on facebook groups, generally several times a day every day because of the lack of structure.

Finally, another one of our rules which you no doubt will also object to, is that accounts are not deleted. This is to prevent confusion caused by disappearing threads and posts. There is no obligation to return, but people often have done once they've realised this was actually the best place to find good quality advice, and that our rules are not there to be unreasonable, they enable us to achieve our one overriding objective: to help as many rats as possible.

Just a little advice OP. If you really want good advice on how to care for your rats then this is the place for you. I luckily found this site while researching rat care as my son wanted rats. I found and was given so much help and advice before getting our rats it was amazing, that help and advice continued throughout the lifetime of our boys (sadly missed). I have no doubt that our 4 boys would not have lived such long happy, healthy lives without the kindness. patience and information provided by the good people on FRF.

Although sadly I can no longer have rats as I discovered I am allergic to them, I still come here to catch up on rat life.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum